


An Uncommon Grail War: Prologue 1: Berserker

by panahinuva



Category: Fate/Grand Order, Fate/Zero, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms, Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:02:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22072219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panahinuva/pseuds/panahinuva
Summary: A new grail war begins in London.  The first servant is summoned by an unconventional mage.
Kudos: 4





	An Uncommon Grail War: Prologue 1: Berserker

Donovan Riis sat at his desk, musing over a letter. The young man had his dark hair pulled back into a ponytail to keep it out of his face as he read the letter. He stroked his chin, though thinking nothing of the stubble he had allowed to build up over the past week, when the letter had arrived. It was from the Clock Tower in London, an invitation to participate in a Grail War. Since the destruction of the grail in Fuyuki, grails of various calibers had been popping up through out the world, sowing chaos wherever they appeared. 

The American had been genuinely surprised to receive a letter from the illustrious organization of mages, given that he was generally considered to be an outsider and an abomination. His experiments on implantation of artificial magic circuits, performed exclusively on himself, were considered blasphemous and an insult to the mage families that had spent centuries or millennia building up their crests and circuits. But Donovan bucked at the idea of powerful magic being restricted to use by a few select families and for everyone else to have to enjoy the dregs. 

He read over the letter again.

_Dear Mr. Riis,_

_You are hereby invited on behalf of the mages association to participate in the Holy Grail War that will begin Wednesday, September 25th in London, England. Travel arrangements have already been made and you will find the tickets enclosed. Please summon your servant before departing. The attempted summoning of Extra class servants has been strictly forbidden for this grail war, in light of the events of the grail incident in Argentina. There is no need to RSVP, your attendance is mandatory and refusal of this summons will result in your death._

_Sincerely,_

_Professor Marion Delacroix_

Well, it certainly brooked no argument and he could certainly do with a challenge and a wish. And the command seals that had appeared on his hand made it pretty clear that he was involved, whether he liked it or not. His research was at a standstill at the moment, due to his last experiment with reinforcing the artificial circuits he had created causing a chain reaction that obliterated all his materials. He stood up and walked over to the summoning circle he had drawn three days ago, while deciding what servant to summon. He had contacts in the black market that allowed him to get his hands on a relic without reaching out to the Mages Association and he now held his relic, a prism which had been cracked and dipped in ink infused with necromantic magic. The relic was simply powerful, without any direct connection to the heroic spirit he intended to summon. Instead, he was utilizing a theory put forth by a Professor Domovich that servants did not need to be summoned exclusively with items relevant to them, but that they could be summoned by assembling artifacts that spoke to their unique history. He intended to stretch this theory to its limit, summoning a figure from a theoretical history, accessed by his relic preparations.

He placed the prism in the center of the circle, then stepped back and started the servant summoning chant. He performed it as required, but also added the extra stanza for berserker summoning. The circle started to spark and glow and he felt power building in it, more power than he had been anticipating. Had he made a mistake? He only had a moment for his misgivings before he finished the chant and a pillar of black energy erupted from the circle, scorching the ceiling of his workshop. He dove for cover behind a rolling cabinet as lightning zapped out from the circle, leaving more scorch marks. The wind howled, growing to a higher and higher pitch before a crack left him temporarily deafened and blew out all the lights in his workshop.

Donovan slowly stood up, shaking his head to try to get the ringing out of his ears and looking with trepidation towards the circle. In it stood a woman, illuminated by the still glowing circle, with tanned skin and white hair, streaked with black, falling to her knees. She was tall and statuesque, wearing black and red garments that hid very little, displaying the network of lines that ran across her body, black as pitch. Black and red lights hovered around her head and her eyes glowed bright red with barely controlled power. Most noticeably, she carried a sword that looked like it had been forged from several pitted iron bars, then infused with crystals. She stared at him as he stood up and he instinctively felt like a deer caught in the headlights of an eighteen wheeler, like if he made a wrong move she would leap over and tear him to pieces. She finally spoke, voice hoarse as though she spent thirteen hours a day screaming. "What have you brought me here to kill, you fool?" She asked.

Donovan straightened up, reflexively flexing the hand adorned with command seals. "Altera, being from a nightmare timeline." He spoke carefully, going over the lines he had written up. "I have summoned you here as my servant, to bring me glory in the upcoming Grail War. Do you acknowledge me as your master?" He asked, raising his hand to show her the seals.

She looked at him, eyes glittering, then tilted her head one way, then the other. A pause that was far too long for comfort later, she spoke. "Yes. I acknowledge you. Both as my master and as a fool of the highest caliber for summoning me. I shall bring you glory and destruction in equal measure."

Donovan sighed with relief. He really didn't want to have to waste command spells so early on to avoid her misbehaving. He had the feeling he'd need them later for that purpose. "In that case, please assume spirit form. I need to pack and then we will be traveling to London to meet with the Mages Association." He said, walking over to the wall to examine the light there. The bulb was shattered. He'd have to go get more. When he turned around, Altera was gone, but the hairs on the back of his neck prickled, telling him the berserker was still present. He sighed, rubbing his eyes. He'd have to see how tremendous a mistake this summoning was. Summoning a berserker was always dangerous, but summoning one from a timeline that didn't exist, a dark reflection of a saber who had ruled over all of Asia? That was by far his most audacious gamble yet. He'd just have to see if it paid off.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey thanks for reading! I've had an itch to write a Fate fanfic for a while now and I decided to finally scratch it here. Making original servants and masters is fun, but not as fun as getting to know them. I'm going to be posting 7 prologues, introducing each of the servants and masters, starting with Berserker (duh) and then going in reverse class order ending with Saber. Then the real fun starts.


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